One small upside of all the craziness that’s been going on with this pandemic is that there is more streaming content than ever, with plenty of new options. There are tons of extended free trials, things for kids to watch, HBO’s biggest free content release in its history, and even SXSW film festival selections.
With so much to watch, it can get a little overwhelming. Here’s a list of 20 relatively lesser known movies that you can stream from the big three (Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu), so you don’t spend all your quarantine time scrolling endlessly trying to decide what to watch.
NETFLIX
Blue Ruin
Blue Ruin is a lean, mysterious, gothic revenge thriller that announced the arrivals of Jeremy Saulnier and Macon Blair. It is so much more than a man-on-a-mission revenge film – it is brutal, but incredibly grounded and realistic, and ultimately more about loss and purpose than revenge or violence. Completely mesmerizing.
Dangal
Dangal is an inspiring story about a man who is obsessed with wrestling and, together with his two daughters, chases the dream of Olympic gold. Starring Indian megastar Aamir Khan, this is the rare Bollywood movie without any singing and dancing, and an engaging sports movie that the whole family can enjoy. Great writing, dialogue, and all around well-made, uplifting film.
A Ghost Story
Despite its name, A Ghost Story is not a horror movie. Starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck in a white sheet, this is an incredibly thoughtful and mesmerizing piece on existentialism, grief and the passage of time. A moody, snail’s pace of a film, featuring an unforgetting pie eating scene, A Ghost Story is a reminder that lingering embers can burn as hot as flames, and last much longer.
Good Time
Incredibly raw, gritty, pulpy, and grimy Good Time is a crime/unravelling film starring a fantastic Robert Pattinson surrounded primarily by a bunch of amateur actors. This terrific movie is full of palpable tension almost from start to finish. The story feels so real and so committed, set in the seedy underbelly of NY (the 35mm is perfect here), and shows what desperation can lead to in a person, even for seemingly good intentions.
I Lost My Body
Despite being animated, this film about a severed hand trying to find its body is fully adult in its pacing and themes, dealing with loss, hope and finding the magic in living life even when you’re dealt a depressingly shitty hand. There is a palpable sense of melancholy and desire in every frame, and the story is existential but never moralizing or dull, and keeps you guessing until the very end.
The King
You’ve never seen Shakespeare quite like this before. The King is a dark, gothic, moody, brooding, gripping, intensely personal tale of imperial politics and double dealing. Even if you aren’t a history buff or know nothing of Anglo-Franco historical conflicts, this film will slowly draw you in. The fighting scenes are astonishingly realistic, the acting is impeccable, and the haircuts are just as startling.
AMAZON PRIME
What If
What If is structured as a fairly conventional rom-com, but infused with the effortless charm of Zoe Kazan. It is also grounded enough that it lacks sanitized sheen of your typical big budget PG-13 romantic comedy. Daniel Radcliffe and Kazan share an electric but wholly believable chemistry that feels lived-in, between real people who have to sort through their mutual attraction as well as their friendship and career ambitions.
Short Term 12
Short Term 12 is a realistic and intimate indie drama about the troubled teenagers and the conscientious staff at a group home/ It also happens to be one of the most compassionate and empathetic films of the last decade. Their interactions are both hopeful and heart wrenching – rarely do films tackle important issues in such a real and personal but accessible way. It’s astonishing to see the glut of big name actors appear who were then little recognized.
First Reformed
Written and directed by the legendary Paul Schrader, First Reformed is an introspective think piece about despair and hope, of social sin and forgiveness, of fear, anguish, and mortality, in which a Protestant minister is forced to come to grips with his faith and its consequences in this modern world of extremes. Ethan Hawke is magnificent as the reverend being slowly engulfed by a haunting, despairing, existential madness.
Lars and the Real Girl
A wonderful comedy drama, Ryan Gosling gives an understated performance that’s just as effective as anything he’s ever done. Gosling plays Lars, an awkward, mumbling young man who gains confidence as he starts dating and showing off his blow-up doll girlfriend. It is a sweet, pure, and funny story about loneliness and acceptance.
Boy
Boy may or may not be Taika Waititi’s best film, but it’s certainly his most underrated. This heartwarming and hilarious New Zealand offbeat comedy deals with a kid outgrowing the hero worshipping of his parents. It starts out as a pure hilarious comedy and then slowly shifts into more drama. It’s also the most local (Maori/New Zealand) film of Waititi’s. Don’t be an egg, check this out if you haven’t seen it yet.
Bone Tomahawk
Bone Tomahawk, S. Craig Zahler’s debut film, is an entry in the unique category of Western/Horror. It follows a small-town sheriff (played by Kurt Russell) who tries to track down some missing townspeople who have been abducted by a group of cannibalistic savages. This is a gritty, ultraviolent, and thrilling movie that will haunt your eardrums.
Eat Drink Man Woman
A classic film about a retired chef who tries to bond with his three adult daughters through his love language of food. It’s the best of Ang Lee’s “Father Knows Best” trilogy, which deals with inter-generational tensions and tradition vs modernity. Incredibly engaging and satisfying, and well ahead of its time in terms of food porn – the opening scene alone is the worth the price of admission.
HULU
Nobody Knows
Hirokazu Kore-eda is the modern master of the Japanese family drama and an expert in stirring up compassion. Nobody Knows is based on the real life story of four abandoned children who survive in Tokyo on their intuition, resilience, and devotion to each other. Beautifully shot over the course of a year to mimic the story’s timeline, and with children who had never acted before, this film is authentic and heartbreaking.
Captain Fantastic
Captain Fantastic is a wonderful comedy-drama about a family whose children have been raised completely self-sufficiently and outside of society in the forests of Washington. They learn math and philosophy but are also taught to hunt and celebrate Noam Chomsky’s birthday. Their careful life hits some snags when they are forced to interact with other people again. This is a warm, funny, and caring family drama.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a 18th century lesbian romance that is patient, lingering on shots the way you would stare at a painting at a museum, or at someone you were in love with. Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel are enchanting, and their smouldering glances and soft gestures crackle with electricity. The incredibly tactile film reveals a sensual, exquisite, aching kind of love. It is cinematic poetry, full of poet’s choices.
Turtles Can Fly
Turtles Can Fly is a Kurdish movie, set during the Iraqi war, about orphans trying to make a living – the kid actors were all real life refugees. There are shades of Grave of the Fireflies, and though it’s not quite as depressing, the film goes from mundane to shocking in the blink of an eye. This is not quite a war movie, it’s more of a heartfelt, small scale story set during wartime about the value of human life and the collateral damage of war.
The Art of Self-Defense
The Art of Self-Defense is quintessential 2019 black comedy – funny, weird, and a little unsettling, like if Yorgos Lanthimos made Napoleon Dynamite. The story follows a lonely, oft-bullied, sad-sack accountant who becomes obsessed with karate, seeing it as a chance to fulfill his desire to “become what intimidates him.” It’s an original and excellent satire that addresses issues of toxic masculinity, misogyny as well as classism, abuse of power, and incel subculture.
Barking Dogs Never Bite
Bong Joon-ho may be a household name now, but his first feature, Barking Dogs Never Bite, remains relatively unknown, and for years was difficult to find. It is a comedy drama about an unfulfilled man who lives in an apartment complex who one day hears a yapping dog and can’t take it anymore. It is creative and fun, and you can see a lot of trademark Bong traits – the everyman struggles, the pacing and tension, the misdirection. Some viewer discretion is advised though, especially if you have a pet dog.
The Sisters Brothers
Jacques Audiard constantly subverts your expectations as you follow two legendary gunslingers, played by Phoenix and Reilly (Brothers by blood, Sisters by name – best tagline ever), hired by a wealthy man to capture a man with a mysterious chemical formula. This modern western is tantalizingly effective. Like many of the best films, The Sisters Brothers defies categorization – you will laugh, you will cry, you will be surprised, and you will have fun.
